Kamloops, B.C., girl raises $1,500 selling lemonade to pay for brother's autism assessment
CBC
When eight-year-old Emma English discovered her younger brother would have to wait up to three years for an autism assessment, she took it upon herself to raise funds for a faster, private diagnosis.
A Sunday lemonade stand held in front of the family's Kamloops home earned a total of $1,500, surpassing Emma's initial goal of $200.
"A lot of people gave me a lot of money," said Emma.
Despite describing her brother as "a little annoying," Emma said she wanted to step up and help him because she cares about him.
Emma's mother, Cara English, said her four-year-old son Bodhi needs a timely diagnosis in order to attend kindergarten next year— a diagnosis experts say is critical in order to access funding and support, but which increasingly requires multi-year waits to access.
"Helping him now will help him for life," said Cara. "If he can't do it until he is six or seven years old, he's lost all those years that he could have learned so many coping skills."
Bodhi is a fun, loving child, says Cara, but his emotional outbursts make him hard to manage.
She says several professionals, including Bodhi's speech therapist and occupational therapist, have recommended having him assessed for autism.
But she was told by their family doctor that an assessment through public health care would take two to three years, and a faster private assessment would cost close to $4,000.
Cara said Emma overheard her talking about the problem one day.
"She said she wanted to help," said Cara. "She has a heart of gold."
Cara said she was shocked when she woke up on Sunday to discover a Facebook post she had made about the lemonade stand being shared widely.
She had provided her email address in response to one person who requested it to send a donation, and woke up to at least seven e-transfers.
She said several people with similar stories have stopped by the lemonade stand to share advice and provide donations.
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